Watch out ladies, here comes Stephen Merchant

MANILA, Philippines - Stephen Merchant is out and about, bringing on the charm and swagger on HBO’s new comedy series Hello Ladies.

Or so he thinks.   

The 38-year-old British comedian plays a hyperbolic version of himself as Stuart — web designer by day and wannabe ladies man by night, transplanted from rainy England to sunshiny L.A. in search for that one-true love.  

Hello Ladies is written and directed by Stephen (already acclaimed either as writer-director, executive producer or actor for such British programs as The Office, Life’s Too Short and The Ricky Gervais Show) as a take-off from his stand-up comedy show of the same title that played out his dating (mis)adventures over the years. His team on the US adaptation of The Office, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, also join him in the series as co-creators.

Stephen brought his Hello Ladies the stand-up comedy show to L.A. and the next thing he knew, HBO wanted to make a sitcom out of it.

“I think the thing that they responded to is taking someone who is very English and way too tall, thin, gangly and nerdy, and putting him in the most glamorous place in the world and seeing how operates there,” Stephen told The STAR and other media during a tele-conference recently.

“He has these ambitions to sort of gain access to this world of beautiful people and exclusive part behind red-velvet ropes but he’s not just the kind for the place. People don’t really want him there but he’s gonna keep on persevering.”

Los Angeles works best as the backdrop because it presents a lethal combination of “loneliness and glamour.” Despite it being the second most-populous city in the US, Stephen wanted this idea that “in the end, L.A. is a very lonely place, something we tried to emphasize in the show, maybe because everyone is in their cars all the time and there’s no hub or city center.”

At the same time, L.A. fans the fantasy of those seeking excitement and action. Perfect for someone like Stuart who’s determined (or desperate?) to redeem himself from his loser past in a city — as what Stephen imagined L.A. to be while growing up in the suburbs of England in the ‘80s — that’s like the “Wizard of Oz, it’s this magical place, full of beautiful people, where life was lived to the max, where glamorous women come out of limousines in mink coats and everything.”  

To be part of this “fantasy” is what Stuart wants but it’s not something he easily gets. And his height is not exactly helping. (Stephen said that his actual height of 6’7” is maximized to drive the physical comedy of the series.)

“The problem with Stuart is he’s trying too hard to be something he’s not. He’s trying to be James Bond, cool and classy, and it’s not just who he is,” Stephen said.

“In a later episode, his roommate tells him, ‘Why don’t you just be yourself?’ and he says, ‘Because I’m one of the normal people and I don’t want to be normal and I’m not interested in the normal people.’ So he (wants) this fantasy life. You see him trying all kinds of ways, and some of the stories are based on real incidents.” 

Just how true-to-life is the character and the series? “I think he’s in a way based on the worst aspects of myself and my co-creators of the show. There’s a little bit of the 15-year-old me who was awkward and kind of geeky, and there’s a little bit of the 25-year-old me who’s trying way too hard to impress.

“And there’s even a little bit of the 30-year-old me after the success of The Office, who has a certain sense of entitlement like, ‘I have this show, don’t I get all the great things now, where are all the beautiful people and where are all the parties?’ So, I’ve taken aspects of myself and magnified them, and made them as extreme and as bad as they can be.

“But I’d like to point out that I’m not that person anymore. No, I’m a lovely, charming and completely together person, hahaha!”

When asked about some ridiculous dating advice that he actually followed, Stephen, who is single but “there’s always ladies in my life as you can imagine,” said, “I remember years ago, someone said to me that you need to have one piece of clothing that will make you stand out. They call it ‘peacocky.’ So, I bought this shirt — this was when I was in college when I didn’t have a great deal of money — which was some kind of fake silk, ’70s John Travolta-style shirt, that was like 90 percent acrylic and 10 percent straw, and went to this party.

“I was talking to this girl at the party and I feel that the shirt did work because I got the conversation going. I was flirting with her, she was laughing and I was thinking ‘I’m killing this!’ and at one point, she said, ‘Steve, you’re on fire,’ and I said, thanks very much, then she said, ‘No, you are on fire!’

“My shirt had caught fire from the candle on the mantelpiece and a sleeve just went up in flames because it was so cheap (laughs). And I’m not at my most attractive when I’m screaming like a girl, rolling on the floor. I don’t remember much about the girl, but I still got the shirt because my mom had sewed an extra seam into it and fixed it. So, I still got the shirt if I need it (laughs).”

When asked for any advice to all the Stuarts out there, Stephen mused, “It’s tricky because I sometimes think if I’d go back to my teenage self, what advice would I give. Stuart’s trying too hard to be something he’s not, but I’m not sure I agree with the advice they always give kids ‘to be yourself’ ‘cause I don’t think being yourself works either, ‘cause I’ve been being myself for years, and I’m still single so I don’t know what’s going on (laughs).

“I genuinely think that the best advice is, particularly if you’re a teenager, a 15-year-old, do not be yourself because you’re 15, you’re a nerd, you’ve got acne, you don’t know anything, you’re a klutz, you’re a loser. So, definitely do not be yourself. Think of who you’d like to be and pretend to be them. Pretend to be the person you’d like to be. And when you’d fool the person into liking you, then you can be yourself. That’s my advice.”

(Hello Ladies airs Monday nights at 9:30 p.m. exclusively on HBO and HBO HD.)